Angel Training
by ButterflyMiko
Summary: After Castiel's death at the hands of Lucifer, he went into another place, where he learned his purpose—his destiny.
1. Chapter 1

_Law 1: Everyone has a star within their hearts_

Everyone has an Angel. A Guardian who watches over us. We can't know what form they'll take, one day old man, next day little girl, but don't let appearances fool you. They can be as fierce as any dragon. Yet they're not here to fight our battles, but to whisper from our hearts. Reminding that it's us. Its every one of us who holds power over the world we create.  
You can deny angels exist, Convince ourselves they can't be real. But they show up anyway, at strange places and at strange times. They can speak through any character we can imagine. They'll shout through demons if they have to, daring us, challenging us to fight!  
Who honours those we love with the very life we live? Who sends monsters to kill us and at the same time sings that we'll never die? Who teaches us what's real and how to laugh at lies? Who decides why we live and what we'll die to defend? Who chains us and who holds the key to set us free?  
This Angel's name is Castiel; and this is the tale of how he came to be.

Xxx  
"Castiel..."  
The blue eyed angel reached toward the sound of the female voice. He had just died, hadn't he? But then, where does a hunter go after dying?  
Castiel had never contemplated such things. But he had just lost a deal to go to hell, so perhaps he should have prepared for death.  
But that didn't answer the question. Where was that voice coming from? Why was it so familiar?  
"Castiel...you are the one. So bright...you have such a bright shining star."  
This voice was also female, but different. Castiel had no time to wonder what the feminine voice referred to, as he was suddenly forced into a strange, dreamlike reality. It reminded him of the way he felt when reading the memories of humans, but such a vivid detail; this human must have a special mind.

Xxx

A young girl cried as she wandered into her mother's room. She was very small, and Castiel recognized the crescent mark on her forehead. He then realized he was seeing the memories of someone of the royal family of the Moon.  
His eyes widened just thinking of her, the woman he had heard stories about as a fledgling. The Angel of Peace, Queen Selene, who gave the Earth the Silver Millennium-a thousand years of peace. Her court, the Elite Angels given the name Senshi. It was said that she would reappear when the time of peace was upon them. Castiel felt himself grow excited. Was the fighting truly over? Had his sacrifice saved the Earth?  
The silver haired child wailed yelled yet again and her mother ran and picked her up. Her mother was the regal Queen Selene, the Angel of Peace. This memory took place in that paradise-time, Silver Millennium.  
"What's wrong, Midoriko?" asked the Queen, holding her daughter close.  
"I can't sleep," the miko replied. "When I close my eyes, a black monster comes after me. Ahri and the others told me a scary story. That inside the mirror, there lives a horrible black monster, that eats crybabies. Is it true?"  
The Queen held up her daughter to the heavens and showed her where the space-horizon met the moon. Thousands of stars lit up the sky. "Midoriko. We, everyone, carry a star in our hearts."  
Midoriko's blue eyes stared into the black emptiness of space and counted the twinkling dots. "A star?"  
"Light and dark are always accompanied by each other. If you're frightened even a little by the dark, and show it your tears, the dark will become great and come after you, and it will swallow the light. Midoriko, to resist the spirit of the darkness, always make the star in your heart shine. That is your most precious mission."

Xxx  
"Castiel..."  
That voice again. This was getting annoying. Castiel realized that he was not, in fact, in darkness. He was in space, somewhere.  
There was a theory that space was just the Senshi's heaven, and the Shittenou's (their word for archangel) as well.  
"All of us have stars in our hearts. Those stars that shine brighter than others are very special and powerful stars. They are the stars of Heaven's Elite." The new speaker was a redhead, and she wore a green dress with a red rose. Reiko.  
"You, Castiel, were born with a bright and shining star." Floating next to Reiko was the blue-clad Mana, dead before her time.  
"It matches 'her' star." Kiana in her fiery red spoke in a soft mysterious tone.  
"We will train you as we were trained." The tough sound of Krystal's voice as she appeared in gold.  
"Will you return to Earth as you were? Or become 'something more'?" Reiko looked at him, a smile gracing her face.  
Castiel almost did not dare ask his question, but since the moment of his 'death' it had burned on his tongue. "Who is it that continues to call me?"  
The four looked at each other. Reiko smiled at him. "Angel of the Lord, that is the voice of our miko."  
"I will join you."


	2. Moon

_Law 2. A Senshi's duty is to protect the Earth._

"Castiel Novak. Crowley. Sam and Dean Winchester. Welcome to the Shikon Training Program. It is my honor to awaken your potential as Shitennou." The speaker was Queen Selene, dressed all in white.  
"Are you certain? They were always just four," Castiel protested the Queen's statement.  
"No, Castiel," her silver eyes gazed at him and a smile graced her face. "In this program that word has come to mean 'male senshi'. And also, you are a bit more then a mere Shittenou. "  
Queen Selene led led Castiel through the glowing crystal palace that he had discovered was located within a place called the Galaxy Cordon. He had learned that this was where all things began and ended.  
When Castiel was born, his grace came from here; and now that he died, he had returned. Located at Sagittarius Zero Star, if he was getting his astronomy right. Castiel felt he should searched here to find God, but he had not known about all of this.  
"Via the Lunar Computers, all the students will be participating in this simulation with you, Castiel," the Queen continued, easing him into a lounge chair. "But I am your teacher."  
She placed two fingers onto his head, and he fell into a dream.

XXX  
Smoke and dust hung heavy in the air. Fires burned brightly in the distance. Explosions rocked the large white palace. Rubble decorated the once white rocky landscape.  
Midoriko looked out at the small battles that raged around her. Her home had been destroyed.  
What had started off as the party of the year had turned to a living hell in a matter of seconds. It was a great blur to her. One minute she had been in the warm embrace of her loved prince, the next she had been ripped from his arms by an detonation that had sent the top of the chateau sky rocketing.  
She had lingered only long enough to see four familiar faces at the front of Yashiku's army.  
None of that mattered anymore to her. Not when her childhood home had been blown to bits. Dead bodies littered her beloved flower garden.  
Midoriko's eyes filled with tears as she spotted a girl's body at the other side of the trampled blossoms. She pushed her raven locks over her shoulder and began heading for the fallen girl. The hem of her snowy white gown became stained with blood as she made her way across the spur-of-the-moment battle field.  
The sickly sweet smell of death filled her nose while tears welled up in her eyes as she approached her destination.  
The sight she was greeted with was disturbing, the bodies of not just one, but two of her guardians, some of her best friends. Tears fell silently down her cheeks as she saw Mana lay closest to the distraught princess. Her armor bloodied and torn, a short sword piercing her stomach.

Sango had fallen next to her. Armor almost burned away. Electrical burns covered her tanned skin. She lay on top of a tall, currently dead man with shoulder length brown hair, whom Kaguya recognized as Miroku. One of Castiel's Generals, who had been captured, and most likely turned to Yashiku's side.

Not far away, Shippo sat lifeless, a dagger of ice in his back.

Glancing over the puffy shoulder of her dress, Kaguya saw the fires she suspected to be from Rin and Kouga fighting.

'Reiko must be nearby, if not already fighting Sesshomaru.' She thought appallingly. Fresh tears sprang up at the thought of her favorite senshi. Thinking about the Yashiku made the young princess ponder of her dark haired lover. Even as the conflicts between the earth and moon grew exponentially worse their love only became stronger.  
A loud roar pounded in her ears, ripping her from her thought of her prince. She saw part of the palace collapse and heard yells from the still standing part.  
Midoriko turned to face the once perfect palace she called home. She knew that voice that had yelled out. the voice that had once whispered sweet nothings in her ears, words of love and promises to be fulfilled.  
'Please let him be alright.' She begged in her mind as she picked up the heavy skirts of her dress and stepped daintily over the lifeless forms of her friends. Swiftly and like a ghost she ran towards the palace.

XXX

Everything was eerily silent. Midoriko paused to look at herself in a cracked mirror that had fallen from its place of the hallway wall. Her pale face was dusty with tear streaks cutting through the grime. Smudges of dirt and what looked like blood decorated it.  
Her pale hair, usually kept up in odango (two buns planted on either side of her head with pigtails that fell from them reaching the floor), was frizzy and matted with dirt. The buns were falling out, and the ends of the fair strands that trailed on the floor were tinted a blood red, as was the bottom of her dress.  
Wait. Why was she thinking about such things as her appearance when her beloved could be dying, or worse, already dead?  
Midoriko ran down the rest of the hallway, vaguely aware of where she was heading.  
Thud.  
She had run into something hard. Looking up she saw the well-known sapphire blue eyes of her prince.  
"Cas." She gasped, "You're alright!" hugging the much taller prince. He had changed into his black and silver royal armor, his cloak still hanging from his shoulders. A golden sword sat in the sheath that hung from his waist.  
"Sere." He breathed, taking in her haggard look. "Where have you been! I thought I told you to stay in your room, away from the fighting!" he held her at arm's length to look her in her red rimmed eyes.  
"Looking for you." She replied sheepishly, not making eye contact. She felt like crying for joy. Castiel, her Cas, was still alive and breathing.  
He carefully led her back to the room he had just left in his search for her. "I want you to stay in here. You could get hurt out there. A war's no place for a princess."  
"But-"  
"No buts, Sere. I will not let anything happen to you."  
"Well maybe that's how I feel about you!" she gushed out before he had a chance to say anything else.  
"I love you too much! The senshi are dead. Your generals too. Yashiku turned them against you! I just don't want you to end up the same!" she cried hysterically.  
"I know." he stated simply as he lead Midoriko towards the balcony of the partially destroyed room.  
He gazed up at the stars shining ahead. How could there be something so beautiful when death surrounded them?  
He turned his head to look at the unkempt angle in front of him as he pulled a thorn less, perfectly formed, red rose from the inner pocket of his armor, handing it to her. He bent down and drew her into a scorching kiss.  
She leaned against him, tears flowing freely down her face. "I love you." Midoriko's voice lingered in the air as he slowly broke away from her.  
"Mii, if I don't make it back from this-"  
A loud crack and blinding flash of light stopped Castiel from finishing his words.  
He whirled around, drawing his gleaming blade in a fluid motion to face a tall, almost gleaming and golden angel with blinding light about him. He was dressed as a Shitennou, but held a golden sword of his own against Earth's prince.  
The ebony haired prince held his thick cape up to shield Midoriko.  
A loud laugh came from the fallen angel. "Oh look at this! The two little love birds." He called out in a mocking tone, dripping with disgust and sarcasm. "Too bad I'm gonna have to break this adorable scene up."  
"Yashiku! What do you want?" Castiel growled.  
Yashiku merely looked up at him as if he was pondering what to say before answering in a sickly cheerful voice. "Well, I want the little moon bitch dead, and you to bow before me as I rule the solar system! How does that sound?"  
"Like hell, Yashiku! I'll join you when hell freezes over!"  
The angel laughed. "Well, that can be arranged. With you and me working together, we can do anything. Now why don't you put down your sword and we can talk about this."  
Castiel only advanced forwards, pushing Yashiku farther back. "Never." Castiel turned his head towards the princess. "Run, Midoriko. Go!"  
Midoriko stood there, eyes wide open, frozen with fear.  
"I said run!"  
The sliver haired girl slowly nodded and began to creep around the side.  
"No! Stay where you are!" a sword had materialized in Yashiku's hand and he had it pointed directly at the moon princess. "I guess I'll have to do this the hard way."  
The angel flicked his hand, causing Castiel to fly backwards, hitting a pillar, where he fell back to the floor in a clatter, landing in a heap. "He's taken care of. Now…" Yashiku turned back to the whimpering princess before him.  
Midoriko cowered by the railing, trying to see if her prince was still breathing. He had taken a hard blow and wasn't moving.  
She gasped as the mentally insane angel cornered her. Weapon pointed at her heart. She braced herself against the balustrade; eyes shut tightly, waiting for the impact. "Please… no… no..."she murmured, knowing that it was useless though.  
"Midoriko!" the petite girl felt her body being shoved out of the way by a heavy force.  
A low roar of pain echoed around the balcony. Midoriko opened her eyes to her worst nightmare. Her prince he pushed her out of harm's way and taken the full force of the blade.  
Yashiku's weapon had penetrated Castiel's armor and pierced his back. Blood had already started to pool around his limp form. Midoriko crawled to his side, not giving a damn if her dress became sodden with the blood of her beloved.  
"Cas…" she whispered slowly as she placed his head in her lap. "Cas… no… don't leave me..." Hot tears flowed like a water fall.  
She gazed once more into the ocean blue eyes she had loved since the moment she laid eyes on them. His body shuddered as he coughed, "Sere, know that I'll always love you. No matter what happens. You'll be with me." He managed to reach into his pocket and press something into her hand. "I love you."  
Midoriko felt her heart rip in two as her love took his final breath and became still in her arms.  
She looked down at the warm trinket in her palm. A golden star locket twinkled up at her, the lid open, a haunting tune filling the empty air.  
Their locket. The one she had given him not a year ago. She remembered the day she had told him to keep it. In memory of her.  
"Castiel!" The cry was loud and mournful. She cradled his lifeless body to her chest. Burying her face in the crook of his neck, tears streaming.  
Gently she laid him down along with the golden charm, the representation of their love.  
Grabbing his fallen sword she stood up and looked the golden angel in the eye. "I want him back."  
Yashiku laughed, "So do I, but not as much as I want you dead."  
"Bring him back!" she howled hysterically.  
"Nothing I can do now. He's dead. Gone for good."  
Midoriko screamed and cried out, a tear coming from her eye in a bright light. She screamed in Enochian.  
Yashiku's eyes grew wide in terror. "You are insane! You cannot preform the seal now! You will also be-"  
A bright light flashed in the Prayer Tower, and the Holy Stone grew, changing from silver to blue. Before the golden angel could move, Midoriko made a symbol in the air with her sword, and the weakened Yashiku was sealed into her jewel, a chain with ten seals holding him down.  
The Shikon glowed brightly as Midoriko felt herself succumb to the seal as well.  
The princess of the moon closed her eyes. No reason for her to live now, was there? Every one she ever loved was dead.  
Castiel.  
Sango.  
Rin.  
Mana.  
Ahri.  
Castiel.  
Her prince.  
Her one love.  
Life was pointless without him.  
So she would seal them all. Their deaths would mean something, and stop Yashiku from ever returning.  
She slowly took a deep breath.  
'Everyone, I love all of you. Sango, the ways you laugh and make me feel so happy. Rin, you were like a sister to me. Ahri, your advice on life and wonderful cooking. Mana, the way you make me do my work or always being there for me.  
Castiel. Cas, my only love. I cannot live without you. I love you too much. It breaks my heart to see you dead. Our love will live on forever. Even once we have left this world our love will last a thousand years. Longer even. I will be with you soon. Know that I am forever yours. Castiel.'  
Midoriko poured all her love and loss into the Shikon, and the tenth and final seal fell upon Yashiku's cage, locking him away forever.

XXX

Castiel awoke on the couch. He looked up at the Queen. "Princess Midoriko! Wh-where is she?."  
She didn't meet his eyes.  
"We were waiting so long," she whispered finally. "When the seal broke, I knew it was time."  
Castiel looked at her again. Somehow, being a prince, and the concept of all this seemed natural and right to him. This Queen, how had she endured this pain?  
"A Senshi's duty is to protect the Earth, " Selene said to him. "Castiel, you must protect your planet and Midoriko. If either are lost, we lose this war. And have faith. You sealed Yashiku once more, and I have trapped that troublesome Raphael with him. You are Midoriko's strong prince. Never forget that. I pray that you find and protect her, and in this life, find peace and happiness."


	3. Moonbow

_Law 3 : The greatest power is the power is only gained after losing everything._

Queen Selene appeared in her flowing white gown. The four guardian soldiers and the four outer soldiers appeared in their royal gowns.

They all stood behind Selene and Gabriel, who held what seemed to be royal scepters.

"It is time for the graduation ceremony," said Gabriel with a grin.

"Yes, it is, my love," said the Queen.

Castiel was pretty sure Dean was about to explode from pent up laughter, and Sam was constantly elbowing him in the traditional shittennou clothing to keep him quiet. He himself was wearing Elysion prince clothing.

Gabe beckoned Castiel over first, and he knelt in respect. Gabriel and Selene pulled him to his feet and smiled. "Welcome back to us, Prince Castiel. Call forth your soldiers, if you would."

Castiel nervously cleared his throat. "Come forth, guardians of Earth, new Shitennou."

The six soldiers walked forward and knelt to Castiel and the Moon family in respect. They then stood as well.

Selene smiled. "I, Selene, do hereby bestow upon you all your powers by right of birth."

She lowered her scepter, and a symbol glowed on the foreheads of each of them. They were all planetary, but Cas did not have the time to take not of which was which.

Next, Gabriel stepped forward. "I authorize you all as Shittenou, and Prince, of the planet Earth, and also as angels, protectors of Earth. Don't mess up now!"

He grinned and lowered his scepter, and they all glowed. Cas recognized immediately that Gabriel had changed them into angels. Either that…or they had always been so, and something had sealed the truth away. Castiel thought about it, and realized that it must be the reason—mainly because only God could create an angel.

Selene and Gabriel smiled, and then the Queen spoke again. "I charge you all with the mission of awakening the senshi and rescuing my daughter. I pray for your safe return to these halls, when at last the Cosmos is at peace once more."


End file.
